Halliburton Defends Its Iraq Prices

July 23, 2004|By Robert O'harrow Jr. And David S. Hilzenrath The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Halliburton Co. executives told a House committee Thursday that allegations that the company overcharged the government for work in Iraq distorted the truth and they urged Congress to consider the wartime conditions when assessing any financial or logistical missteps.

A hearing by the House Committee on Government Reform was the first time executives of the company's KBR subsidiary appeared on Capitol Hill to respond to charges that it systematically misspent public money while doing $5.6 billion worth of work in Iraq.

"While we have undoubtedly made some mistakes, we are confident that KBR has delivered and accomplished its mission at a fair and reasonable cost," said Alfred Neffgen, the chief operating officer of government operations in the Americas.

The hearing was deeply partisan. Democrats led by Henry Waxman, D-Calif., repeatedly referred to the fact that Dick Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive before he was vice president. They suggested that Halliburton and its subsidiaries defrauded the government.

Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., called the Democrat's efforts a "witch hunt" in search of "sensational" material instead of facts.

The political rift was reflected by the witnesses. Among them were former KBR employees in Iraq, including two truck drivers and a former logistics specialist, who said the company routinely wasted government money.

The KBR executives followed up with an appeal for understanding of the hazards of a combat zone under which their employees worked and sometimes died.